Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
July,  I877  J 
Editorial. 
383 
for  copies  of  the  formula,  we  believe  that  our  readers  will  value  it,  if  only  as  a  curi- 
osity. The  following  has  been  copied  from  the  "London  Pharmacopoeia"  of 
1746,  and  we  may  add  that  the  "  Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia,"  also,  contains  a  for- 
mula giving  three  more  ingredients  : 
MlTHRIDATUM  S.  CONFECTIO  DaMOCRATIS. 
R.  Cinnamon,  14  drachms  j  myrrh,  11  drachms;  agaric,  Indian  nard,  ginger,  saf- 
fron, seeds  of  Mithridate  mustard,  frankincense,  Chio  turpentine,  each  10  drachms; 
camel's  hay,  costus  (or,  in  its  stead,  zedoary),  Indian  leaf  (or,  in  its  stead,  mace), 
stechas,  long  pepper,  hartwort  seeds,  hypocistis,  storax  (strained),  opopanax,  galba- 
num  (strained),  opobalsam  (or,  in  its  stead,  expressed  oil  of  nutmegs),  Russia  cas- 
tor, each  one  ounce ;  poley  mountain,  scordium,  carpobalsam  (or,  in  its  stead,  cubebs), 
white  pepper,  candy  carrot  seed,  bdellium  (strained),  each  7  drachms;  Celtic  nard, 
gentian  root,  dittany  of  Crete,  red  roses,  Macedonian  parsley  seed,  lesser  cardamom 
seeds  (husked),  sweet  fennel  seed,  gum  arabic,  opium  (strained),  each  5  drachms; 
calamus  aromaticus,  wild  valerian  root,  aniseed,  sagapenum  (strained),  each  3 
drachms;  meum  athamanticum,  St.  John's  wort,  acacia  (or,  in  its  stead,  terra  japo- 
nica),  bellies  of  skinks,  each  %\  drachms ;  clarified  honey,  thrice  the  iveight  of  all  the 
other  ingredients. 
Warm  the  honey  and  mix  with  it  the  opium  dissolved  in  wine  ;  melt  the  storax, 
galbanum,  turpentine  and  opobalsam  (or  expressed  oil  of  nutmeg),  together  in 
another  vessel,  continually  stirring  about  to  prevent  their  burning ;  with  these,  so 
melted,  mix  the  hot  honey,  at  first  by  spoonfuls,  and  afterwards  in  larger  quantities 
at  a  time  5  when  the  whole  is  grown  almost 'cold,  add,  by  degrees,  the  other  spices, 
reduced  into  powder. 
Looseness  in  Writing  Prescriptions — Quite  a  number  of  our  cotemporaries 
have  recently  commented  upon  a  prescription  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  com- 
pounded j  carelessness  on  the  part  of  the  prescriber  and  dispenser  resulted  in  endan- 
gering the  life  of  a  lady,  which  was  fortunately  saved  by  the  prompt  administration 
of  antidotes.  The  prescription  was  as  follows:  "R.  Hydrarg.  chloridi,  gr.  vi ; 
Pulv.  Opii,  gr.  i.  Put  together  in  one  paper."  The  clerk,  supposing  the  medicine 
to  be  intended  for  external  use,  dispensed  corrosive  sublimate,  without,  however, 
labeling  "  Poison,"  or  "for  external  use."  In  this  he  was  clearly  negligent  or  care- 
less} in  our  opinion,  he  had  no  right  to  put  up  the  prescription  without  first  ascer- 
1  taining  the  intention  of  the  prescriber,  or,  if  that  was  impossibble,  he  should  have 
dispensed  the  weakest  preparation — in  this  case  calomel — unless  the  object  of  the 
physician  could  be  clearly  discerned  from  the  directions.  But  there  were  no  direc- 
tions, and  here  it  is  where,  in  our  opinion,  the  greatest  censure  should  attach.  Had 
the  prescription  been  marked  "  One  dose  "  or  "  Take  at  once,"  the  mistake  would 
not  have  happened  ;  for  we  have  not  noticed  that  the  clerk's  knowledge  had  been 
questioned. 
Unfortunately,  a  very  large  percentage  of  prescriptions  are  written  in  the  same 
loose  manner.  Some  years  ago  we  had  an  argument  with  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent men  of  the  medical  profession,  whose  care  and  exactness  are  widely  known  5 
the  subject  was  the  advisability  of  adopting  a  posological  table  containing  the  max- 
